Encinitas school district teachers get 4% retroactive raise

Under a new contract, Encinitas Union School District teachers received a 4 percent salary increase — retroactive to July 2014. They’ll get an additional 2 percent bump come this July.

The district board on April 15 unanimously approved the increases.

“We’re happy to be able to help our teachers out,” Superintendent Tim Baird said when reached for comment April 20.

Baird said the district agreed to the raises largely because of increased property tax revenue, the district’s primary funding source. Also, quite a few teachers retired this year and new teachers were hired at lower salaries, offsetting part of the cost, he added.

The 4 percent increase for the district’s roughly 250 teachers during the 2014-15 school year comes at an expense of $926,385, while the 2 percent raise for the 2015-16 school year will cost $481,720.

About a year ago, district teachers were given a 2.5 percent raise that was retroactive to July 2013, their first increase in six years.

“There are bad years, but whenever the tax receipts are coming in higher, it’s nice to share that with the employees,” Baird said.

As a testament to revenue from property taxes climbing, a mere three years ago the district board planned to lay off 36 teachers, though ultimately the board was able to rescind all layoff notices.

Before the board’s April 15 vote, the average district teacher made $75,386. Starting in July, that figure will increase to $79,918.

About three months ago, the district began negotiations over salaries with the union TOE, or Teachers of Encinitas. The group did not respond to an email request to comment.

Baird said the board will probably approve contracts with each management and the union COE (Classified of Encinitas) in the next month or so. COE represents about 230 “classified” support positions, such as office managers and custodians.